Working something out

Awhile back I purchased a glass locket pendant from Rings and Things. When I had ordered it I had in mind making polymer clay discs to place in it (which I still might try). But when it came I had fun picking through my bead stash and trying out different things inside it.

The large pink bead is a 10mm glass fiber optic 'cat's eye'. Because that bead is larger than most of the locket, it floats in the center section where the glass is curved out. I think it lends for a neat effect.

I also have some seed beads in there. While they add some interest I don't think I will keep them in there. See, the locket opens, and it's easy enough for these to fall out being as small as they are. I've already picked them up once or twice while playing with the pendant.

So yes, short post is short, but I wanted to show a little work in progress.

Earrings with Beading Wire

 

 (Click image for larger version)

Earrings are something fun to make, especially when I have random extra beads leftover. This weekend I made a bunch of earrings, using bead stringing (beading) wire instead of headpins or regular wire. These are all made with Soft Flex brand, using their Trios packs (3 colors sold together). Most of these I used the Tranquility pack, and a little bit of the Serenity pack.

Bead wise I used a variety of beads. The large dark blue ones are resin, which I picked up awhile back at my local JoAnne's. The other blue beads, both light and dark are glass fiber optic "cat's eye" beads, which I purchased at Rings and Things. I also used some Swarovski crystals which I've purchased from both Artbeads and Rings and Things.

Finding wise the lever backs I purchased from Artbeads, and the colorful French hooks I bought from Rings and Things. The French hooks are niobium, a metal which people with nickel allergies can wear. Though buying the niobium findings is also nice because of the variety of colors available.

These were really easy to make, and would be a great project for someone learning to bead, or anyone really. It's also a good opportunity to practice using crimps. For most of the pairs I simply looped a length of stringing wire through the earring finding, folding it in half. I then slid a larger  bead on both strands and up to near the earring. To keep this bead from sliding down I used a crimp underneath. Then I put various beads on the bottom of each strand.